The Beauty List

Sorry I had to rush off so suddenly yesterday, but as promised here is the second half to yesterdays Beauty List.

As you all know it was my graduation on Friday and I was on the hunt for a foundation that had the lasting power to keep me looking glam all day long. My first thought was Chanel - as it usually is - but I'm also a huge fan of MAC and know that their foundations are always a winner. I wanted quite a subtle finish but long lasting, so I opted for MAC Satinfinish SPF 15.

The foundation gives a low to medium coverage that can be built up for more full coverage in the evening. It has light reflecting particles in the micro-minerals that blend beautifully into the skin, leaving a luminous look. Where normal dewy foundations tend to slip off your skin throughout the day this keeps lasting and has a beautiful glow in photographs. In my opinion this is the best foundation for dry skin, I was extremely impressed with its ability to rejuvenate my skin, give me a radiant glow and how long it lasted. It's £22.50 and is available online. And my ultimate favourite thing about MAC foundations is there is a perfect match for every-one's skin colour, depending on the warmth/coolness of your skin.

Lastly on my list this week is Shellac. I had a geleration manicure not too long ago, and I wasn't best pleased with it. I decided to go for a Shellac manicure to see if that version was any better, and so far, so good for Shellac. The geleration failed pretty quickly and started chipping and peeling within a few days - 3 days in and no peeling for Shellac yet. With its mirror finish and no nail damage underneath, Shellac already has my seal of approval.

My tip is you're looking to get a Shellac manicure is to pick a colour that you will be happy with for 2 weeks because this bad boy lasts! Prices start at around £20.

The Beauty List

Hey y'all and welcome to the second helping of The Beauty List. This week I'm going to be quick because I'm just popping out to buy some goodies for my trip to Butlins next week with the girls! Cannot wait for the tackiest trip of my life, lots of pics to follow!

This week on The Beauty List at number one is my all time favourite YSL Touche Eclat, £24.50. This wonder product has been a must-have of mine for years until I found a cheaper alternative in Collection 2000 for almost a fifth of the price of YSL. However, as much as you can try and tell yourself that cheaper is better there's no way it can rival Touche Eclat. It really is in a league of its own. It highlights, brightens, conceals - and looks beautiful in your make-up bag on its timeless gold pen. The pen gives instant radiance and is amazing on my hard-to-conceal dark circles. A must-have for all women in 7 shades. Available from most department stores and online - no excuse ladies!

Now my friends have turned up outside so I must dash but I promise to finish off the list later! Got so much more to say ... xxx

Versace & H&M

Instore next week!!! Can't wait, H&M is already an amazing shop in my eyes - probably my fave - and it just keeps getting better.

Will you be buying Versace from H&M? Keep me posted with any purchases xxx

Important Chanel Update!!!

For any-one who loves Chanel there's some very exciting news for you! They are bringing out a new foundation on January 13th called Perfect Lumiere!

The liquid foundation is set to give the same full and professional coverage as Pro Lumiere but is longer lasting. So basically perfection in a bottle. This does come at a cost though, prepare yourself...Pro Lumiere is being discontinued *sad face*

Go and buy as much you can ladies because when it's gone, it's gone.

Can't wait to test the new foundation! Penny xx

NEW The Beauty List

Welcome to the latest 'feature' on my blog. As my blog continues to grow (thanks for reading!) I've been trying to think of different ways I can keep you guys knowledgable about the latest and greatest beauty products on the market. I know I can be quite slack with my blog sometimes so I've decided to have a weekend review of products that I'm loving for the weekend. Every Saturday I will aim to give you a list of the best beauty treatments, techniques, products and tips - what a great excuse to buy more products!

This Saturday its mostly about the lips, I'm loving Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick from Clinique, £16. The revolutionary gel formula gives the shine of a gloss, and the comfort of a lipstick. Butter Shine Lipstick is perfect for me because it gives great stand-out colour of a lipstick, but the gloss it gives makes the lips beautifully subtle. The colour I'm sporting at the moment is Pink-a-boo, a very girly baby pink that goes great with bronzed, glowing skin. It's a very 'Barbados' look I think, chilled and tanned! The coverage is sheer to moderate. For lips tips from Clinique themselves follow this link http://www.clinique.co.uk/cms/expert_tips_trends/library/articles_lip_tips.tmpl

What else I'm loving for the weekend is Catwalk by Tigi Salon Series Salt Spray, £9.99 from feelunique.com. With naturally wavy, thick, unruly hair it can take a while to control my locks in the morning! But then the miracle that is Salt Spray was delivered to me. I really really love it and would recommend it for all hair types. Even the finest of hair will see results from this product with the right amount of scrunching.

Spray the product into wet or dry hair and scrunch the hair. If you apply it to wet hair, then rough dry your hair while scrunching for the best effect. As a beach bunny I love this spray because it's such a natural and effortless look that does just make you look like you've spent a day at the beach. The spray gives volume and definition to your tresses - all round great product.

Next on The Beauty List are some brightening eye drops from Vital Eyes, £2.49 from Boots. Working in an office with computers and aircon every day, and being really prone to gross Conjuntivitus, my eyes always seem to be quite red at the end of the day. This is not a good look for me! Getting really fed up of looking tired and ill all the time I decided to try out some drops. What a difference they've made! My eyes almost instantly seemed brighter and whiter, taking away the bloodshot, tired look.

A definite winner for those who work with computers all day, and suffer from tired, dull eyes. The drops contain natural plant extracts and soothes away redness leaving brighter and more sparkly eyes!

That is all from The Beauty List this week, ciao for now I'm going to go and *research* for the next Beauty List.

Penny xx

P.S Just one more thing before I go, how amazing are these lips??!

ConGRADulations

Woop woop! I graduate next Friday - Check this 11/11/11! Cool eh? As cool as the date may be, I'm having a few wardrobe issues. Do I play it safe and opt for a smart black workwear dress...or do I try to jazz it up a bit and go for brights. I think the latter is my preferred option,  have you seen that ugly gown we have to wear?!

I've seen the most amazing shoes though from Dune - leopard print courts. However at £80 I might have to put that dream on hold. It's OK though I've seen a second pair in Topshop for a fraction of the price...£65. Clothing aside I'm also having a mare with my make-up look I want to go for on the day.

I need a foundation that will stay put for the whole day but I don't want it to look like I'm wearing a lot of make-up. Think I'll stick to my trusty Barry M coral lipstick to brighten the place up though. In the days up to graduation I'll be testing a number of different foundations for the big day and will give a round up in the next week or so. I'll be getting my hair dyed darker and a spray tan for the event and I'll be sure to post a pic so you can see the finished look!

Stay tuned for lots of pre-graduation rambles...
Penny xx

Lips to die for

So in my attempt to be a bit scary this Halloween I decided to opt for a cheap and easy option - Wear nice clothes but vamp up the makeup.

Although it's lazy you still get to look a bit nice on halloween! So I was on the look out for a dark purple, almost black lipstick and was expecting to have to turn over a few stones to find one. I was surprised when purple seemed to be the no.1 colour this month with offerings from Mac, Revlon and many more. Sticking with the earlier criteria of cheap I chose to go with Kate Moss' Lipstick from Rimmel, and got sucked in at the counter and also bought a dark berry - for blogging purposes of course.

The Kate Collection from Rimmel

If you're looking for an affordable but amazing lipstick then I recommend Kate's collection. The limited edition lipsticks are the iconic lasting finish lips, but with a slight glossy finish. It has long lasting power and gives really great colour and is a great price at £5.49.  With seven colours to choose from you're guaranteed to find one to match your complexion, and outfit! I opted for no.4 which is a grape colour, and amazingly smells like Grape too. The purple is gorgeous and I will definitely be wearing it long after Halloween! Available from the usual Boots or Superdrug, picks yours up at lunch tomorrow!

Mwah! xx